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Another week, varied selection of new business ideas from around the world: a London hotel that reads guests a bedtime story, honey with the convenience of a sugar cube, pubs that let patrons tap their own pints, and more. Our next edition is due on 19 March 2008. In the meantime, check out our daily postings on www.springwise.com, send us your tips, and please don't forget to tell your friends and colleagues about us. Much appreciated!
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Honey may be one of a growing number of snobmoddities, as we noted back in 2006, but that doesn't mean it isn't still sometimes a sticky mess. Not so the Honey Drop, a new honey that you can hold in your hand. Island Abbey Foods, of Prince Edward Island, Canada, has come out with a dried honey drop, equivalent to a teaspoon of the sticky stuff, that you can hold in your hand, drop in your tea or pop in your mouth. Released in January, the drops are made with pure Honibe honey from PEI, with no artificial colouring, flavouring or preservatives. The drops have a shelf life of one year and are available in two flavours: pure honey, or honey and lemon. Pricing is CDN 11.99 for a box of 20, which makes for a very premium alternative to sugar cubes. Island Abbey Foods, which is a member of 1% for the Planet, is currently looking for retailers, affiliates and resellers for the Honey Drop. Sounds like a sweet proposition! Website: www.honibe.com Spotted by: NOTCOT
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Companies with innovative approaches to staid industries need to move quickly in order to maintain their lead, even after they’ve become firmly established. A good example is Zipcar. The US-based car sharing venture with operations in North America and the UK first appeared on our radar in 2003. Back then, we applauded the company’s disruptive, car-on-demand service that appealed to consumers more interested in using a vehicle than owning it. A little over four years later, as we detailed last April, a partnership with another industry disruptor—ParkAtMyHouse—made it easier for Zipcar’s customers to find a place to park. (ParkatMyHouse lets homeowners rent their coveted urban parking spaces by the hour or the day.) A few months later we wrote that a new Zipcar service enabled renters with GPS phones to access directions to the nearest car, wherever they happened to be. And the latest Zipcar news? The company is further broadening its customer base by partnering with AKA, a provider of luxury furnished suites that currently operates nine locations in the US, with one to follow in the UK later this year. Customers of the high-end “pied-à-terre on demand” chain are given a free one-year Zipcar membership (the company’s hourly rates still apply). After applying online, guests can pick up the digital key-card to their Zipcar at the front desk of any AKA property. A smart move, since extended stay guests in big cities are a logical fit for the car sharing service. If there’s a lesson here, it’s that getting out in front of the other guys early is only half the battle—the pressure is always on to improve and innovate. Website: www.zipcar.com — www.hotelaka.com Spotted by: RK
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Let’s say you have to answer an email from an important client. Not being a professional writer, you’re unsure whether the lengthy response you hacked out will even make sense. Who are you going to call? Gramlee. Paste your rough-hewn verbiage into a text box on Gramlee’s website. Hit submit. And within about two hours the text is emailed back, expertly polished by human editors so that it’s both readable and grammatically correct. Gramlee claims that the average email runs about 150 words, and charges under a dollar to edit a document of that length. Longer documents incur built-in discounts; for example, editing a report-length 1,617-word document—about 7 double-spaced pages—costs just under USD 10, which is cheap enough to entice nearly everyone to use the service. Gramlee lets frequent users ‘buy words’ in advance, and it’s easy to imagine companies running an account with the editing service to make sure their routine documents are professionally produced. Right now, most organizations handle the editing of everyday documents in a far less efficient manner. Important letters, emails and other documents are either handed off to the lone office worker who majored in English, or a company locates free-lance editors and summons them whenever the need arises. Indeed, Gramlee does for writing what online translation and concierge services have done for other common tasks that benefit from a professional’s touch. And a fast turnaround will hook customers into making a habit of having their documents edited. Considering the billions of memos and emails that circulate every day, the market for companies providing on-the-spot editing is vast. (Related: PAs for the rest of us.) Website: www.gramlee.com Spotted by: Mark Joan
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Skiers: active, athletic and often tech savvy, are ideal early adaptor candidates for mobile applications, especially when those applications make their sport more enjoyable and safer. Case in point? Skimondo, a downloadable application for Nokia GPS-enabled phones. Like the Nike + Ipod kit that records a runner’s performance and provides audio feedback, the beta launch of Skimondo gives everyday skiers the kind of digital feedback once reserved for Olympic hopefuls. Using the free Skimondo download, skiers can easily determine their route and performance. Plus, by displaying both ski trail maps and more precise maps of mountainous terrain, Skimondo shows where each member of a ski party can be found at any given moment, whether they’re on the slopes or careening off piste through a pine grove. In fact, when coupled with a user’s mobile phones talk and SMS functions, Skimondo helps skiers quickly find out if someone in their group gets in trouble. All that functionality requires some time to implement. And unfortunately, Skimondo currently works at just two Swiss resorts, Verbier and the 4 Vallées. Plans call for additional Swiss ski resorts to be added along with other European and presumably worldwide destination. For Skimondo’s founders, the biggest reward for their painstaking work will likely come in the form of a sizeable well-defined user base that will come to rely on the widget for other revenue-generating purposes—everything from making dinner reservations at the end of the day to clicking on a gear manufacturer’s coupon. And while Skimondo will compete with another promising ski tracking device called Satski, mobile applications (or widgets) hold great promise for entrepreneurs wanting to reach fans of other sports. Before long, we'll no doubt see widgets for hunters, cyclists and kayakers. Mobile applications that target particular (sports) groups have several advantages: finding users is as easy as finding the special-interest websites they visit and the offline locations they frequent. Also, potential customers are generally willing to pay for products that will enhance their performance or experience. Something to work on if you’re in telecom or leisure! (Related: Ski lift tickets at a discount.) Website: www.skimondo.com Spotted by: Peter Shaw
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Last April when we wrote about an Australian firm called Todae that helps companies monitor their energy use, we noted that many homeowners would likely use a similar service. Sure enough, one of our spotters found a London start-up called Green Homes Concierge which does just that. For GBP 199, Green Homes Concierge inspectors will come to a customer’s home, toting heat-detecting cameras and other devices to help them evaluate its leaks, wall insulation and appliances. Afterwards, the inspectors will recommend ways the home’s owner can reduce CO2 emissions, and hopefully save some money in the process. Significantly, GHC’s services don’t end there. For a full year the firm will act as a helpful concierge. Should customers wish to make the inspection’s recommended improvements, GHC will help them locate contractors and suppliers able to do the work or tell them where to buy low-energy light bulbs and other environmentally friendly items. That kind of handholding can be a big help, as anyone who has tried to negotiate with contractors can attest. GHC gets financial help from the London Development Agency, according to an article in the Guardian. The agency wants to reduce the city’s CO2 emissions by 500,000 tons by the decade’s end. And it has targeted homes for good reason. Collectively, the city’s homes produce 40 percent of London’s CO2 emissions. Without the city subsidy, GHC’s concierge services might cost several thousand pounds. GHC’s service could easily find a home in any reasonably affluent community. True, competing public and private services exist. In the US and elsewhere, for example, energy companies, with an eye on their own bottom lines, have long encouraged homeowners to reduce utility bills by offering counseling and rebates on fuel-efficient appliances. Also common are government tax breaks to encourage homeowners to invest in energy efficiency. But, sorting through the paperwork to qualify for rebates and tax breaks can be a major chore for homeowners. So who wouldn’t want an affordable concierge to handle the paperwork? And while start-ups modeled on GHC’s services might not benefit from the municipal subsidies available in London, the companies’ real income could come from commissions earned through contractor referrals as well as project management fees. Website: www.greenhomesconcierge.co.uk Spotted by: Mark Boreland
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We've written before about platforms for minipreneurs that aggregate the offerings of many merchants in a single online or offline space. A few weeks ago Rumplo stepped into the fray with a t-shirt-specific site that helps consumers find the coolest t-shirts from independent makers around the world. Brooklyn, NY-based Rumplo aims to make it easy to browse, search and subscribe to artist-produced tees from around the globe. Users can browse categories such as color, typography, slogan, photography or gradient (in addition to the more obvious "new" and "most popular"), and Rumplo serves up a selection of matching submitted shirts from independent producers all over the planet. Designers, stores and registered users can all participate in submitting links to t-shirts they love, and users can subscribe via RSS (e-mail delivery is coming soon) to their favorite designers, tags or topics. All t-shirts on the site are open to comments by registered users, along with designation as "faves." What users won't find, however, are the works of any on-demand printing sites, which Rumplo's founders have deliberately exluded. It remains to be seen if Rumplo will charge sellers any kind of fee in the future, but meanwhile plans are apparently in the works for advertising support. By focusing on independent producers (and excluding others), Rumplo takes a partially curated approach that is sure to help users wade through the clutter and find the gems in the online t-shirt marketplace. A model to emulate in other markets! Website: www.rumplo.com Spotted by: Josh Mervis
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More than a century ago, citizens of the Czech city of Pilsen pioneered new methods of brewing and storing beer. Now a new franchising concept called the Pilsner Unique Bar is mixing the town’s venerable brewing tradition with leading-edge technology. The establishment’s main innovation? Patrons no longer have to line up at the bar or wait for a server. Instead, they serve themselves from taps installed at the bar’s tables. A display keeps track of how many beers have been poured. Technology has also been integrated in other ways: the Pilsner Unique Bar is connected to sister franchises elsewhere in the country, so that patrons can challenge barflies in other towns to contests. And wireless internet is available for customers who want to surf while they sip. Like many successful franchises, the Unique Bar makes optimal use of its floor space. During the day a coffee shop and restaurant attract most of the patrons until the early evening, which is when the pub transforms into a nightspot. However, Unique Bar’s self-service tap could be the feature that most endears the concept to customers and prospective owners. Not only does it cut down on staffing needs, it also lets customers get their brews as soon as they want them, and attracts parties and groups. We’ve spotted this system in Dublin, too, where patrons of The Baggot Inn swipe a credit card to pull their own beers. Staff is on hand to offer tips on how to pull the perfect pint. Next up: DIY cocktail bars for wannabe mixologists? Website: www.thepubworld.com — www.thebaggotinn.ie Spotted by: Viktor Vojtko and Severine Brichard
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Guests at the new Andaz Liverpool Street hotel in London will soon have the opportunity to enjoy not just a homelike atmosphere complete with a "living room" instead of a traditional lobby. Next month, during the world-famous London Book Fair, guests will also be able to partake of the services of the hotel's first-ever "reader-in-residence," who will be available to read aloud to them in their rooms. The Andaz Liverpool Street, which opened last November on the site of the former Great Eastern Hotel, is the first in a new series operated by Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and it operates under the brand hallmark of "personal style." There is no front desk for check-in, and traditional "extras" such as breakfast, local calls, laundry and movies are all included in the eco-conscious hotel's considerable—but transparent—prices. Now, between April 14 and 28, Times journalist Damian Barr will be on hand at the hotel to help guests with their literary needs, also at no extra charge. In the mornings, guests will be able to consult Barr for a dose of bibliotherapy in which he'll diagnose their literary needs and prescribe appropriate texts—whether it's "a sumptuous Georgette Heyer, a classy giggle with Nancy Mitford or some glamorous gangsters with Jake Arnott,” he explains. Hotel guests will also be able to book him for a private literary lunch or dinner in one of the hotel's five restaurants and bars, as well as requesting Barr's in-room read-aloud services from a specially devised Book Menu. To round the residency off, Barr will host a read-in on April 27 in the spirit of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s renowned sleep-in at the Amsterdam Hilton. Guests, friends of the hotel and anyone needing a place to read are invited to the event, which will take place at Mildred, the cosy side of the hotel's "George" pub. The reader-in-residence program is a marketing tool for the newly opened Andaz, spokesman Simon Warrington says, and one of a series of such events that are designed to promote the hotel's focus on personality. Other like events in the future will include an on-site performance by the Real Hamlet Company, he said. "We needed to move on to the next level in art and culture," using the hotel itself as a "living stage, rather than something dead that needs to be filled," Warrington explains. "If we can show as a brand that we're personable, it makes sense for us to do quirky projects like this. It's all about Barr's personality—the hotel becomes his space, and it's not something we can control. This could go either way." The same could be said for most experience offerings, of course, but that freshness and immediacy is also a big part of what makes them so desirable to consumers. Those in hospitality, restaurants and retail: this is the Experience Economy at work, and it's here to stay! Website: www.andaz.com Spotted by: HotelChatter via RK
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Some 81 billion return envelopes are sent through the US mail each year in credit-card statements, utility bills and other direct mailings, at an estimated cost of 1 billion pounds in greenhouse gas emissions and more than 71 trillion BTUs of energy. Eliminate some of those by using reusable envelopes instead, and it could make a big difference for the environment. That’s the thinking behind ecoEnvelopes, a Minnesota-based company that aims to eliminate the use of reply envelopes from corporate America. Its alternative: a line of reusable envelopes that simply zip open, allowing users to insert their response or payment and seal them up again just like a regular envelope. ecoEnvelopes was actually founded back in 2002, but it worked for years to perfect the design of its envelopes and obtain the US Postal Service’s approval—which it now has. ecoEnvelopes work seamlessly with existing insertion and postal processing equipment, and are manufactured exclusively on certified papers from managed forests, with up to 100% post-consumer recycled content. And whereas "eco" options in general often cost more than traditional solutions, companies that use ecoEnvelopes instead of two separate envelopes save between 15 percent and 45 percent on envelope and related mailing costs by eliminating the need to print, store, handle, insert, track and include that second envelope, ecoEnvelopes says. They also enjoy increased direct mail response rates as high as 8 percent, it adds. So many green solutions require complex changes to business processes or behavior and entail elaborate cost-benefit analysis, but every once in a while there’s an easy one, such as substituting one envelope for two. One to study if you’re in printing, direct mail or advertising! Website: www.ecoenvelopes.com Spotted by: Katie Konrath
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Whether it's board riders or hotel seekers being targeted, there's no doubt that the verticalization of video sites continues apace. The latest evidence: Shoetube, a new video-sharing site for those obsessed with shoes. Launched about two weeks ago by Massachusetts-based Powderhouse Productions, Shoetube aims to use online video and social community to connect women through their passion for shoes. The free site features original video programs, user-generated videos and photos, and sponsor-created content, along with professionally written blogs, forums and articles on fashion news and trends. Among the site's regular video programs, for example, are Behind the Boot, which provides access to the makers and shakers of the shoe world; Real or Deal, a studio show daring viewers to guess which shoes are from high-end designers and which are knockoffs; and Walk on By, in which Shoetube.tv hosts ask passersby nationwide, "Where'd you get those shoes?" Coming soon is a Boutiques section, which will showcase videos and photos, blogs, contests, polls, and shoe deals from well-known shoe companies. Ad-supported Shoetube provides sponsors with promotional opportunities through video ad overlays, boutique microsites, banners, contests and polling efforts. Through a collaboration with Nine West, for example, Shoetube is helping to promote the shoe brand's 30th anniversary and the launch of its fall 2008 boot line; to celebrate Shoetube's launch, meanwhile, shoe brand daniblack is offering a USD 1,000 sweepstakes prize to a Shoetube.tv registrant. From aardvark fanciers to zwieback aficionados, it's a niche-filled world out there, full of opportunities for topic-specific video sites. And when there's the likes of Twistage (which Shoetube used) and Magnify at the ready for help on the technical end, there's no reason not to pick a niche and get to work! Website: www.shoetube.tv Spotted by: Amy Leung
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